Comments

i wonder how many crooks bother getting a carry permit?
i doubt if many folks arrested for a crime with a gun have a permit
or even a legal gun. the criminals will always have guns, while the
law abiding citizen will have his registered, permited and ready to
be confiscated by the gun police when they come after the legal guns

The state received 3,573 applications for concealed-carry handgun permits in February, the most in any one month since the state started issuing the permits
in 2006. That was more than the 3,167 applications counted in January — itself a record-setting month — and more than double the previous high of 1,651
in March 2012.

---with our idiocracy such as Jawbone Joe biden saying just fire two shotgun blasts illegally in the air, no wonder sane law abiding people are seeking to protect themselves at a record pace in the legally prescribed manner.

the more the hysterical left hyperventilates against guns he more they advertise for the need for guns, because criminals don't get disarmed by new laws.

That's simply not true. Just because you don't see it the same way, doesn't mean you're right. Can you for a second fathom that there are people who disagree with your world view, and that those people are not crazy, but simply hold a different opinion? You, a self proclaimed liberal, should be accepting of different cultures right?

For many months, people have been giving you other reasons, but you refuse to hear anything but your own voice. I understand why someone wouldn't want to carry a firearm, it comes with a great deal of responsibility. I would never force someone to carry if they didn't want to. However, you are just going to have to learn to live with the fact that there will always be guys carrying firearms around you.

We have all attempted to answer your question with a simple word. Preparedness. And if that answer doesn't fly with you then fine, we get it, we understand it, and we can respect it. We, simply, would rather be able to defend ourselves against an armed criminal than simply let him manhandle us. This is not being scared because we all realize that the likelihood of being attacked in a life threatening manner is very small, especially in Lawrence, we just believe in being ready in case we do. Car insurance, life insurance, and home insurance are the same thing. KansasLib, you to have those things and not because you are "scared" of a tree falling on your home but because if one does fall on your home you'd like to be able to move on. I can't think of another way to say it, because personally I am not scared of the world.

I feel like I'm talking to a wall, because you will simply respond to these posts with "scared." As the other poster responded, it's all about being prepared and giving myself options. I can't give you 5 or 6 reasons, that's like asking for 5 or 6 reasons to have a fire extinguisher at all times... 1. To put out fires (2) Smash zombies over the head?). The reason for carrying a firearm, self defense. Statistically, those who carry concealed commit fewer crimes than the general population as a whole. It doesn't affect you, so it's not really something you should worry about. I choose to give myself the option of a firearm if I need to use it in self-defense. You don't feel the need to do that, and that's fine, I'm not going to force you to carry. To each his own.

I have, I have carried into multiple Lawrence businesses. Lawrence doesn't have any specific ordinance against open carry, though it does prohibit firearms within 200 feet of a bar (City Code 14-408). However, it does say one can pass through that 200 foot zone as long as you don't voluntarily interrupt your travel. You could open carry up and down mass street, just not to stop in any of the stores (and this has been done before, but not by myself).

Ok, I'll try to see it from your side. So say that we are scared of stuff. Wouldn't you say that's reasonable? There were 11000+ gun murders in the US last year. The murder rate was 4.8 per 100000. The violent crime rate was 387 per 100000. That's pretty scary stuff.
Now lets get down to reality. We're not scared just prepared. And is the higher gun ownership working? I think so. Lets compare us to the self proclaimed "civilized" part of the world where the gun control is some of the most strict in the world, the United Kingdom. Now the UK that I'm going to talk about is just England and Whales. Ireland is not in it thus making these numbers actually smaller than reality. So the current murder rate for each: US - 4.8 per 100000 UK - 1.2 per 100000. Big difference and if that was all, it would be game over. However, if we compare that to 100 years ago the US murder rate was 7.8 per 100000 and the UK was .81 per 100000. If you find the line graph showing the murder rate for each year in the last century you'll see that the US has been on the decline and the UK on the rise. Also look at violent crime. US has 387 per 100000 and the UK has 1361 per 100000. In all, is a place that has more strict gun control guaranteed to be more safe? These stats seem to indicate no.

Conceal and carry. What a wonderful way to feel secure until you turn a corner and some punk sticks a gun in your face.

Stop and actually think about it. We don't live in Lone Ranger Land and Marshall Dillion isn't going to walk into the Red Lyon any time soon. No, these days, there are no gun fights in the streets, which were pretty rare anyway, and instead we have small groups of people that are generally all armed, or at least mostly armed, that already have their weapons unholstered before anything is started at all.

Unless you are a quick draw expert, you are NOT going to outdraw the trigger finger on the kid pointing the gun in your face while demanding your wallet. To think otherwise is just going to get you hurt, if not worse. Instead, learn to be a bit credible about being scared and take self defense courses, where they teach you to disarm an opponent while being unarmed yourself.

But that would require actually being a grown up and taking true responsibility for yourself and others.

Assume, for a moment, that you actually manage to unholster your sidearm and squeeze off a round or two at the punk in front of you, which of course assumes he's in front of you and not behind you. If you miss the punk, which is actually quite likely due to teh effects adrenaline has on the human body, I wonder where that bullet would go? Would it magically disappear mid-flight? Not to mention the punk would likely return the favor with probably much the same accuracy for the same reasons.

However, disarm him and/or knock him out, no bullets flying around helter skelter, no bystanders hurt, and best of all, you are most likely not hurt.

You do live in la-la land, don't you? First, other than Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon, I have never seen anyone carry a firearm at the small of their back that wasn't at least reasonably visible. In your little fantasy land, Tattoo might let you do that, but in the really real world, it just doesn't work that way.

Second, you are still arguing that you can outdraw, aim and shoot someone that is already pointing a gun at you.

Seriously. That's DHS's advice. That's after the epidemic of shoulder dislocations and injuries from falls as women practiced Joe Biden's advice to "go out on your balcony and shoot your shotgun into the air."

With leaders of the the tea party telling people that there is rape and real rape, quibbles like that mean more women should be armed. At least if we don't shoot them the Kansas legislature seems to be considering, after too long a time, getting rid of the five year free pass.